That's what will keep it going - the political risk of people not getting "theirs". Since you're paying it forward, and the money you are paying in is for current retirees and not yourself, the only way you'll get your money back "with interest" is if the system continues. However, if you'd be willing to stop collecting once the amount you paid in was collected, that wouldn't be too many years and it would help wind things down.
I don't see people lining up to volunteer, somehow.
"I don't see people lining up to volunteer, somehow."
Where is the line? The reason you don't see people lining up is that it's not an option. If I could stop them from taking my money tomorrow I'd be happy to wait till I retire to get what I've paid in back, with reasonable interest of course to compensate me for having to do without the money I've paid in for all those years. Expecting interest is not unreasonable. The government deprived me of my money promising to pay me back later. They've created the expectation that we will all be paid Social Security checks for the rest of our lives in exchange for the money we are paying now. That's the deal. If they were to give me only what I've paid in and on top of that make me wait twenty something years until I retire to get it back it would only be fair that they pay me interest. It's a loan as far as I'm concerned, maybe part loan and part insurance payment. We hold up our end of the bargain by paying into the system. They need to hold up their end. They get the benefit of the use of my money today, while at the same time I am burdened by having to do without it today and I lose whatever profits I could have made from investing it. Not only that but the money I've paid in over the last twenty some odd years isn't going to be worth nearly what it was worth twenty some odd years from now when I finally retire. We should be compensated for our losses. The government should pay for the benefit it has derived from us. I'll settle for five or six percent interest compounded annually on each SSI payment from the date it was made. I would probably have done a good bit better in the stock market dollar cost averaging that money into index funds or "55 mile an hour" growth funds, but I'll settle for the lower payout.